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A global analysis of the impact of COVID-19 stay-at-home restrictions on crime

Published version
Peer-reviewed

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Authors

Ahven, Andri 
Amram, Shai 

Abstract

Abstract: The stay-at-home restrictions to control the spread of COVID-19 led to unparalleled sudden change in daily life, but it is unclear how they affected urban crime globally. We collected data on daily counts of crime in 27 cities across 23 countries in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. We conducted interrupted time series analyses to assess the impact of stay-at-home restrictions on different types of crime in each city. Our findings show that the stay-at-home policies were associated with a considerable drop in urban crime, but with substantial variation across cities and types of crime. Meta-regression results showed that more stringent restrictions over movement in public space were predictive of larger declines in crime.

Description

Funder: Utrecht University Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences COVID-19 Fund

Keywords

Article, /4014/4002, /4014/523, /4014/4013, article

Journal Title

Nature Human Behaviour

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

2397-3374

Volume Title

5

Publisher

Nature Publishing Group UK